A Soldier's Letter
by Liberty89
Summary: At Stanford, Marley gets the assignment to write a soldier of the US Army as a part of a pen pals program. She ends up writing to private Lopez...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: This story is inspired by hunnyfresh, who wrote the story 'Letters From War' for the fandom Once Upon A Time. This story is also inspired by the tv-show Our Girl from the BBC. **

**I apologize in advance for any mistake and grammatical mistakes. English is not my first language and I wrote this story in a hurry.**

**To my readers from Let Me Fix You, the story is not dead! I'm still writing on it, but this idea had to be written.**

**Alright, enough rambling, on with the story!**

**O, and I don't own any of these characters, only Mackie is my own creation.**

* * *

><p>Navigating through the many students, Marley made her way to her next class. She would start her second year at Stanford with English. It wasn't her favorite subject, she would have thought she had had enough English at high school. Apparently, you can never have enough English. She slid into an empty seat in the back of the class, ready to take an extra nap. She had only arrived last night late from Lima, she had spent the summer at her mom's. Once in a while she had seen Jake, he seemed happy with Bree. Marley shook her head mentally as her teacher entered the classroom. He greeted them all and turned his back to them to write something on the white board. Pen Pals, he wrote in capital letters. He turned back to the class, clicking the pen close.<p>

"This is going to be your assignment this semester. You are going to participate in a program for Pen Pals for soldiers in the US Army. You all get a writing partner," the man explained as he distributed the papers.

Marley received hers last and lazily she picked it up. 'Private Lopez' she read. Underneath the name was an address written, a camp somewhere in South Carolina.

"You're going to write a letter to the soldier and hopefully, you'll receive a letter back. If you lack inspiration to these man and woman, it doesn't have to be a high standard letter. They'll be happy the receive mail. Just tell them that you're proud of the job they're doing," the teacher continued his speech.

A boy next to Marley raised his hand. "What if you're not proud of them?"

Marley groaned, she went to class with morons. She tuned out as the teacher seriously replied to that answer. She kept staring at the name on the paper and out her bag she grabbed a note block and a pen. She threw one last look at her still rambling teacher and went to work.

* * *

><p>The heat was beating down on Santana. That wasn't the hardest thing to deal with, she was used to it, but the bullets were a different story. She currently was hiding in an abandoned building, shielding herself from the bullets. She and her platoon were patrolling the area around the compound that she called home for more than three months. They had walked straight into an ambush and now they had to take cover.<p>

"Lopez, come on!" her captain called out to her.

She forced her legs to do their job and moved from her spot. She raised her rifle, ready to shoot at any movement and ran over to Mackie, her captain. As a bullet flew past her head, she fired back rapidly. Gasping she let herself fall against the wall next to her captain.

"You alright there?" he asked as he briefly glanced down at her.

She just nodded and got back to her feet. It was only then she saw one of her comrades was injured. She hurried over to him and checked where he was injured. Blood was pouring out of a wound on his arm. Quickly she grabbed her medical bag on her back and pulled out a bandage and a tourniquet.

"Keep awake, Shorty," she called to him and bandaged him up.

He moaned as she strapped the tourniquet tight around his arm. Santana just looked as Mackie came standing next to her. "Is he going to be okay?" he asked.

"Only if we go now," she replied and helped Shorty up, luckily he was still conscious.

"Then let's go."

Mackie took cover for her and started firing, while she and Shorty ran over to their Humvee. She pushed him in and looked back at Mackie, who was running in their direction. Santana held open the door as Mackie jumped in, Mackie pulled her in and the door slammed close behind her. She felt the Humvee kick into gear as she leant over Shorty. Shorty looked at her and smiled shakily.

"You're going to be fine," she said as they made their way back to the compound.

* * *

><p>Marley made her way back to her dorm from the writing lab. The rain was pouring down and she had a ten minute walk ahead of her. She sighed and pulled her coat tighter around her.<p>

"Hey Marley!"

She looked up and saw Kitty standing in the doorway of the campus' pub. Marley hesitated, longing for her warm bed, but changed course to Kitty.

"Were did you come from so late? Are you having a lover?" Kitty teased her, Marley knew this behavior, Kitty was tipsy.

"No, I came from a writing lab. Trying to become a journalist, remember?" she said and stepped into the pub.

Immediately someone handed her a beer, probably one of Kitty's friends. Apparently it was Kitty's mission to get Marley some friends since they came to Stanford. At first Marley didn't know Kitty was attending Stanford as well, until they ran into each other. Kitty had been distant at first, but that changed quickly. Now she was pulling Marley into every party she could think of. Marley let it come over her, she knew it would be the only change she ever came to a party. If it weren't for her mom, she probably would have backed of Kitty, but she had promised to go out and make friends.

"Still wanting to be a journalist?" someone asked.

Marley looked up, it was Simon. She liked him alright, but nothing more. She nodded and took a swig of her beer.

"Yeah, just had a seminar about writing columns. Very interesting, but not what I want," she told him, eyeing Kitty who become even more drunk.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Reporting the news, exposing the ugly truth about this bloody earth," Marley replied.

"Wow, that's deep. But a good goal," Simon admitted, but Marley saw she already lost him.

He was nice and all, but a bit of a dimwit. Marley liked to think he had fallen on his head as a baby and had lost some brain cells. She sighed and took another swig.

"What I really want to do is going to war torn places. Showing people what's really going on there, what our troops are really leaving behind, you know. I know they're defending our country, but there are innocent people there," Marley went on, she didn't mind she had lost Simon. She just had to talk to someone.

"Come on! You're boring him to sleep," Kitty yelled in her ear. "Come dance!"

While Kitty dragged her to the dance floor, Marley saw Simon was asleep indeed. She snorted, that wasn't probably her fault, but the booze. She let Kitty lead her to the dance floor and let the music take her over. Let the music clear her head. Laughing, they danced until deep into the night. Marley knew she would regret it the next morning, but for now she was content as she was.

* * *

><p>Santana came out of the medic tent. Shorty had been picked up by a chopper, she couldn't help him here in the field. As she walked over to the other guys she saw she was just in time for the mail. She sunk onto one of the blocks and leaned against the wood bored. She never got mail in the three months she had been here. Who would write her anyway? She didn't have a family, not anymore at least. She had been in the foster care since she was seven, after her mom had died and her father went AWOL. For a few months she had been living with her aunt, but had been placed out of the house because she was too difficult. After that she had been from foster home to another. At one of them she had Mackie, he was like a brother to her. She had been sixteen when he joined the army and got enlisted to Afghanistan. As soon as she had turned eighteen, she had joined the army as well. Now he was her captain and she couldn't be happier about that. This was her family, these 42 men and woman.<p>

"Lopez!"

Santana startled and looked up at the smirking face of Mackie. "Who is Marley?" he asked smugly.

"I don't know, sir," she replied, she so would kick his ass later.

He walked over to her and pressed an envelope in her hands. "Since when are you hiding a lady friend in your bug?" he asked whispering in her ear.

"I'm not, sir," she smirked and looked at the envelope as he walked away.

As Mackie continued passing around the mail, Santana sneaked of to her bunk. It was her home for these past three months, but the walls surrounding her bunk were blank, accept for a few pictures of her and Mackie and other team mates she was close with. She plopped down on her bed and studied the envelope again. Her name was writing in a neat handwriting and as she turned she saw the returning address was some dorm at Stanford. She frowned, she knew no one at Stanford. Curiosity got the best of her and she ripped open the envelope.

_October 12, 2014_

_Private Lopez,_

_I hope this letter comes off as strange or intruding or even annoying. I'm sure you'll get lots of mail, so I hope you don't mind me writing one to you. To be clear, I got your name and address of a pen pals program, by teacher made me write to you. Don't think I don't want to write, because I do!_

_O, sorry, I'm rambling. You must be think I'm a totally nob. Let me introduce myself: I'm Marley Rose and I'm twenty-one. I'm currently attending Stanford, as you could see on the back of the envelope. Sorry, rambling again. I'm studying to become a journalist._

_So there you have it, that's me in a nutshell. I hope I didn't annoy too much with my rambling, it's my first time writing to a stranger._

_I'm not quite sure what to write more, only that I admire you're courage to fight and defend our country. Someday I hope to find myself in a war torn place, only as a journalist that is. What I really want to show the world is that there are also innocent people in this war and I'm sure you're there to protect them._

_Here I go again with the rambling. Sorry._

_Anyway, be safe out there._

_Marley Rose._

_PS: I don't even know if you're a man or woman!_

Santana folded the letter again, a bit overwhelmed by this letter from this Marley person. Normally she would be annoyed, but somehow she wasn't by this letter. She even found herself smiling at some points. She looked up as Mackie entered the tent.

"Oi, Mac," she stood up and walked over to him just as he sat down. He looked up at her, smirking. "Since when am I in the pen pals program?" she asked.

He patted the spot next to him, Santana sat down and looked at him. "You never receive any mail, Lopez," he started.

"Geez, what weird. Who in the world would write me, Mac? My aunt doesn't want to see me and my mom is dead. You? That would be a bit silly," she spat.

"Chill your tits. You need some contact with the real world, otherwise this war will drive you insane. I want you sane, San. You're all I got, you know," he continued calmly.

"I'm not going insane. I'm managing just fine after three months," she said, but didn't sound convincing.

"You're strong, so it could take awhile, but eventually you'll go insane. Did she write anything interesting?" he asked, changing the subject smoothly.

Santana stood up. "That's private," she teased him and smirked, walking back to her bunk.

"Write her back," he said as he stood up to leave the tent.

"Maybe," she said.

She put the folded letter back into the envelope and with her finger she brushed the handwritten address of Stanford. She looked around her and saw she was alone. Out of her bag she pulled a note block and a pencil. She sat down in Indian Style on her bed and started writing.

_**October 20, 2014**_

_**Marley,**_

_**To be honest, your letter is the first I received since I've been stationed here. And no, I don't think you're intruding. It actually highlighted my day.**_

_**It has been a while since I've written a letter, so I'm sorry for my bad handwriting. **_

_**I've heard of Stanford, I've never been though. As an aspiring journalist I hope you won't correct my letters ;) **_

_**I've got to go now, it was nice to meet you. I mean, not meeting, but writing. You know what I mean. **_

_**Pr. Santana Lopez**_

_**PS: As you can tell from my name, I'm a woman ;)**_

_**PSS: I think you're rambling is cute**_

Santana read her letter over, pondering the last sentence. Eventually she scratched cute and wrote behind it: _**not annoying.**_ She borrowed an envelope from her bunkmate above her and scribbled down the address. As she heard the last bell for the leaving mail, she dashed outside and dropped the letter in the bag. Happy with her decision to write back, she returned to her bunk…


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I corrected a few mistakes in the previous chapter, the most important one is that Santana's address isn't in South Carolina but in Afghanistan. Further I corrected a few typo's I caught later on. For this chapter I had a beta, who I thank deeply for his help :D **

**Thank you all for reading, all the favorites and alerts I received. I do would love it if you leave a review, it kinda is my fuel to my inspiration :D**

**Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!**

**Chapter Two**

Rain was pouring again as Marley made her way over the campus to her English class. As her mind landed on the subject, she wondered if Private Lopez ever had gotten her letter, she had sent it over a month ago. She knew mail was slow and all, but this was getting ridiculous. She shook her head and entered the classroom. Kitty waved at her, they had English together this semester. Marley sat down next to her and leant back. Kitty leaned towards her.

"Had fun last night with Simon?" she asked deviously.

"O, lots," Marley replied sarcastically.

"O come on, I know you like him," Kitty teased further.

Marley raised an eyebrow and sighed. Kitty had been trying to hook them up, but Marley wasn't interested in him.

"Whatever," Kitty huffed and pulled back as the teacher came walking in.

Marley pulled out her books and concentrated on the teacher, who started explaining the importance of vocabulary and the difference between writing an essay or a letter. Once again her mind wondered to the letter she had written and had yet to receive a reply. From several classmates she had heard they had received a letter back. She hoped the letter had managed to reach the private and more important that nothing bad had happened to the soldier. A sharp knock on the board made her jolt out of her thoughts and her attention back at the teacher. She grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, sir," she mumbled, ignoring Kitty's burning eyes in the side of her head, no doubt she was grinning knowingly.

Patrolling the small village was Santana's favorite thing to do. She loved to watch the town's people go about their daily business and she almost felt like an intruder. Almost, because they were here to protect them from the Taliban and IS. Her eye caught a little girl, playing with some rocks. She stopped dead in her tracks to watch intrigued and smiled as the girl looked up. The girl first looked very serious at her, but cracked a shy smile eventually. Santana continued her way through the village, following her mates. She wondered how it would be to grow up with soldiers around her. Growing up in this unstable environment. Maybe it was the same as how she grew up, moving from home to home, one more abusive then the other. She sighed and was the last one to leave the town behind her. They were on their way to a small make shift hospital to inspect how things were going there. Finally they arrived and Santana entered the hospital first, being the medic of the platoon. She took off her helmet and hung her gun on her shoulder. Gzifa came towards her, she was the local doctor here.

"Hello Gzifa. Salam aleikum," she greeted the older woman.

"Hello, Santana," the woman greeted back.

"How are things here?" Santana asked as she lowered her backpack to the ground and set her gun and helmet next to it.

"It's slow at the moment. But I think something is going to happen. Soon," Gzifa told her softly.

"Why do you think that?" Santana asked as she quickly checked a little boy she brought in a couple of days ago. He looked a bit better then when she found him. He had been playing outside the village and had stepped on a landmine. The result was that part of his leg was amputated, but he was alive.

"I've heard….rumors. I'm not sure what's going to happen or when, but…" Gzifa's voice trailed off.

"Something is going to happen. Thanks, Gzifa. I see what I can find out, okay?" she said to reassure the woman.

"Thanks. Namir is doing better, his fever is down," she told about the boy.

"That's good. I think he's going to pull through."

She laid down the chart and continued her round through the ward. At the end, she picked up her backpack, gun and helmet.

"You're doing good work here, Gzifa. I'll check in in a couple of days, okay?" Santana said, hoisting her backpack up her back.

"Thank you, Santana. Be safe out there," Gzifa said friendly.

"You be safe in here," Santana winked and left the tent.

The sun blinded her briefly before walking over to Mackie. He turned as he heard her approach.

"And?" he asked.

"All is well. Namir is doing well, he's going to pull through," she reported.

"Good. Let's head back, it's quiet out here," he said.

"Yeah, I wonder for how long," Santana said as she walked next to him, weapon at the ready.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking at her.

"Gzifa heard some chatter. She's not sure what or when, but something is going to happen," Santana filled him in on her chat with the doctor.

"Hmmm, good to know. I'll take it to the sarge," Mackie said.

Santana nodded and walked quiet next to him. They passed through the village again, Santana looked for the girl, but she was gone. Soon enough they left the village and headed to the compound. Santana longed for it, she really wanted to rest her feet. The heat was rising to its worst, so some shadow wouldn't be bad as well. And the mail would be coming soon, she wondered if she would have a letter from Marley. Ever since she sent the letter, she hadn't heard anything from the student. Perhaps it was just a prank and would she be on her own again. Somehow Santana didn't like that thought. Although Marley had only sent one letter, Santana had liked it a lot. She was curious to this girl, she wanted to know more about this girl. She didn't know where this curiosity came from, but she couldn't ignore it.

"Have you heard anything from that girl who wrote you? Carly?" Mackie asked as they entered their tent.

"Marley. No. Perhaps it was a one-time thing. For her it was an assignment after all," Santana said.

Mackie shrugged. "I hope not. You looked happy receiving that letter," he said, sitting down on his bunk.

"I can't deny that, but what difference would it be? I'm used to being on my own," Santana replied, rolling on her back on her bunk.

"You're not on your own, San," Mackie said quietly.

Santana turned her head to look at him. "No. I have you," she said sincerely.

"True. But I won't always be there. You need someone of your own," he said, still serious.

"Don't be stupid, Mac. Of course you'll always be here," Santana replied matter-of-factly.

"Yeah."

Mackie stood up and left the tent. Santana stayed in her bunk, her hand already under her pillow to grab the now familiar envelop. She pulled it from under her pillow, the envelope had turned a bit yellow-brownish from being handled a lot. The flap was torn slightly from being opened so much. Santana pulled out the letter, but didn't need to read it, she knew it by heart. Instead she studied the neatly written letters and folded it again to put it back in the envelope. Mackie was right, she hoped it wasn't a one-time thing Marley writing her.

Upbeat music sounded through her ear plug as Marley was running on the athletic track course. She loved the running, it helped to clear her head and keep her in shape. In the middle of the course, on the field of grass, cheerleaders were practicing. Kitty was on top of the pyramid and waved at Marley. The brunette waved back and focused back on her running. After another five rounds, she walked of the tracks and made her way back to her dorm. She entered her dorm and jogged up the stairs. Out of her pocket she pulled out her keys and stuck them in the lock. Her phone vibrated and she fished it out of her pocket as she entered her room. It was a typical dorm room, small, but big enough for Marley. She somehow had managed to fit her double spring box in the room, as well as her bookrack. Further she had a desk with her laptop and her sound system on it. It was her workspace and that showed. Her desk was filled with books, essays and papers. Marley unplugged her ear plugs from her iPod and plugged her iPod in her docking station. She pressed play and the voice of Alex Clare sounded through her room. She checked her phone and saw she had a message from Kitty.

'You coming party at the pub?' it said.

Marley quickly replied. 'Sure. What time?'

While she waited for a reply, she gathered her stuff for a good hot shower. Her phone vibrated again and Marley picked it up.

'Already here. Hurry!' it said.

Marley rolled her eyes and picked up her stuff. She grabbed her keys and walked out of her room to head to the showers. Unfortunately, she had to share the showers, but mostly she could avoid a busy shower. Tonight was not different, the shower was deserted. She stepped into a stall and stripped down her sweaty clothes. She turned on the shower and waited until it was warm. She took her time showering and came fresh and still with damping hair out of the shower, dressed in clean clothes. She walked back to her room and was about to unlock her door as Hunter called her.

"Finally, I thought I would never see you," he said, smiling.

"Hi, Hunter. How can I help you?" she asked, opening her door and dumping her wet towel and sport clothes on the ground around the corner.

"Your mail got delivered wrongly. I got it here," he said, handing her a pile of envelopes.

"Thanks. That explains a lot," she grinned at him.

"I'll see to it that it won't happen again," he said and started walking away.

"Thanks, Hunter. I appreciate it," she said and walked into her room.

She dropped the pile of envelopes on her desk and started to clean up her stuff from the shower. Finally she was ready to head to the pub, she saw Kitty had been sending her messages. Just before she wanted to walk out of the door, her eye fell on the pile of mail. She sighed and shifted quickly through it, to see if there was something important. Almost on the bottom, she found it. An airmail envelope. She pulled it out of the pile and saw in a sloppy handwriting her address. She turned the envelope and saw the return address was from a camp in Afghanistan. The soldier had written back! She was about to open it, as her phone vibrated again. She stuffed the envelope in the back pocket of her jeans and left her room, locking the door behind her.

The night had fallen at the compound and Santana sat outside enjoying the cool. Mackie came up behind her, handing her a cup of tea.

"Thanks, Mac," she said.

Silence fell between them, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. Santana liked that in Mackie, he could keep his mouth shut when needed. Out of habit, she let her head rest on his shoulder, he just wrapped his arm loosely around her waist.

"Sorry you had no mail today," he finally said.

Santana shrugged and lifted her head up, gripping the cup tighter. "I wasn't expecting any," she lied.

"You were. I saw it in your eyes. Why don't you write another letter to her?" he asked.

"Why? To be ignored again? No, thanks. She the one missing out," Santana said stubbornly.

"Stop being such a child and write her again," Mackie insisted.

Santana looked up at him, eyeing him suspiciously. "Why do you want me to write to some stranger so desperately?" she asked.

"Because. I want you to be happy, San," he said.

"I am happy. I'm here with you, what else do I want?" she exclaimed.

Mackie sighed and decided it was wiser to just shut up. Going into an argument with Santana Lopez was hopeless anyway. She laid back her head on his shoulder, his arm still wrapped around her waist.

"But I did hope she had written back," it sounded softly from Santana's mouth.

Mackie just smirked and took a sip of his tea, looking out over the desert.

It was a busy night in the pub. Marley had pulled herself back with a beer and sat in one of the empty booth in the back of the pub. She somehow had escaped Kitty's and Simon's attention. Simon was doing everything he could to win her over, but she could care less about him. He was still a dimwit. She pulled out the envelope out of her back pocket and ripped it open. She pulled out the letter and folded it open. Her eyes glided over the sentences and startled at the date. The letter had written only eight days later! She read on and was relieved she wasn't a bother. She smirked at the last sentence, she saw what Santana had scratched out. Santana. So, she was writing to a woman. Somehow, she found that easier. Without even thinking about it, she grabbed her notebook out of her bag and a pen and started writing.

_Hi Santana!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The day had been long and warm. During their patrol, they had visited the hospital again. Still nothing had happened, the place was calm and quiet as always. Santana was happy for it, her patients would be healing a lot better this way. After their visit to the hospital, they had broken up a little fight in the village and had returned to the compound after it was resolved. Now Santana was sitting in the middle of the compound, in the shadow of the makeshift roof they had made. She didn't want anyone to notice, but she was anxiously waiting for the mail to arrive. While listening to the chatting around her, she dozed off until Mackie started to call off names.

"Lopez!" She almost jumped up, but walked as cool as she could to Mackie. Grinning he handed her a box. "Guess it wasn't a one-time thing," he winked at her.

She snatched the box out of his hands, but grinned up at him. Whistling, she walked back to her tent and sat down on her bunk. Her hands were shaking slightly as she opened the box carefully and saw some stuff lying in it. She took out the letter and set the box down. Carefully, she opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

_14 November,_

_Hi Santana,_

_I'm soooo sorry I'm only writing you back now, almost a month later! My mail got lost in this stupid dorm and it got returned to me today. So when I shifted through the mail, I found your letter. To be honest, I was scared you wouldn't want to write me back. Luckily you did and now you think I must be a moron._

_So, to make it up to you, I bought some stuff for you. I wasn't sure what to give you, so I got some neutral stuff._

Santana picked up the box and shifted through it. There was shampoo and shower gel in it, along with a cute red shower sponge. There was a magazine and a brand new note block in it. Santana grinned at the note block, hers was almost empty. Further she found a few new ball pens and pencils. Santana put the box back down and picked up the letter again.

_I hope they become in handy for you._

_My life at the moment is steady. I follow classes and have a drink once in a while with a friend. At the moment I'm in a bar, writing you a letter back as soon as I can. I'm still sorry, by the way._

_I hope life is treating you well over there. Can you tell me something about your daily life there? Because I have no clue how it looks like while you're at war._

_And I'm glad I'm not a bother to you. I find it nice to write to you._

_I'd love to hear from you, Santana._

_Please, be safe._

_Marley._

"Was it from her?" Mackie asked, grinning broadly.

"It's none of your business, but yes. She sent me a care package," Santana admitted and showed him the box.

"Cute." His grin grew even wider.

"Shut up," Santana shot back and picked up her new note block and ball pen.

She grabbed her I-Pod and placed her headphones on her head, signaling to Mackie she didn't want to talk to him anymore. Smirking, he raised his hands and walked out of the tent. Santana stared at the still white paper and even without much thinking, she started writing.

_**20 November, 2014**_

Winter was full ablaze and Marley was making her way to the ice rink. Kitty called her crazy, but Marley loved it. She was playing in the college ice hockey team, she had a scholarship playing for them. As she made her way to the changing rooms, she thought of the letter that had arrived that morning. It had been from Santana. Unfortunately, she hadn't had time to read, so she had taken the letter with her.

"Hey Marley," she got greeted by Charlie, the goalie.

"Good afternoon. Ready to keep 'm out of your goal?" she asked, setting down her bag.

"Pumped and all," Charlie winked and pulled on her protective gear.

Marley smirked and started to change as well. She took out her skates, they used to be her mothers. She knew they were old and all, but they skated perfectly. She putted them on and made her way to the rink. There stood Katie, the captain of the team. Marley already sat down on the bench, she was reserve as always. And indeed, after Katie's peptalk, the coach appeared and read the names of the ones who were playing. Marley was fine with it, now she would have time to read Santana's letter. As the game started, they were playing a team from Missouri, she pulled out the letter.

_**Hi Marley,**_

_**I was glad to receive your letter and care package. They will certainly became in handy, especially the note block. **_

_**How is it possible your mail got lost? Don't you have a mailbox of your own? **_

_**About my daily life, well, sometimes it's really boring. We life in this compound a few miles from a small village. Every day we go on patrol to the village and to the field hospital nearby. We also cover a part of the mountains, but I don't come there often. We have a special task force who's covering that part. **_

_**Besides the patrolling, we do fitness and fool around a bit. I fitness mostly, trying to keep fit. Mackie, my commander and best friend, wants me to mingle more, but I'm used to being alone.**_

_**You told me about school and hanging in a pub, but I wonder what you do for a hobby? Unless hanging in a pub is ;) **_

_**I've got to go now, we've got a second patrol to do. Things are getting a bit restless here.**_

_**See you soon!**_

_**Santana**_

A bit frowning Marley read the last sentence. _"Things are getting a bit restless here." _She hoped the soldier was okay and things would settle soon. She was about to grab her note block as some commotion made her look up. Startled, she rose to her feet and walked over to the board. Her teammate Rose got engaged in a fight over the puck and got crushed against the board by two players of the opposite team. They won the puck and skated off, but Rose slid to the ice. Marley couldn't see it properly, but it seemed like Rose was hurt, badly. The referee whistled and the game stopped. The referee skated over to Rose, who was trying to get back to her feet.

"Marley! You're up!" the coach said and Marley made her way to the ice.

She removed her protectors from the blades and entered the ice. Halfway she met Rose. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Knock 'm out, Marley," she said and made her way to the bench with a pain distorted face.

Marley gripped her stick tightly and skated over to her spot. She was right wing, her favorite spot to play. She could attack, but play defensive as well. The referee whistled and the game started again. Katie managed to win the puck and played it off to Georgina who played left wing. Marley skated forward, ignoring the smaller girl from the opposite team. She saw Georgina was having a difficult time and signaled to her she was free. Georgina passed and the puck slid towards her, stopping with a sharp tick against her stick. Marley skated forward, passing the smaller defender with ease. Another defender tried to block her, but she played around her. Marley sped up and skated towards the goal. She saw the goalie was becoming nervous. She stopped sharply and lined up her puck. She pulled her stick back and lunged it forward. The puck came loose from the ice and speeded towards the goal. The goalie tried to grasp it, but missed. The puck hit the net and the light above the goal sprung to live. Smiling broadly Marley skated back to her team, who slapped her on her back. Finally she felt alive, here on the ice…

Catching the ball mid-air, Santana threw it back up. She was laying in her bunk, staring up at the ceiling. She was thinking about Marley, she was glad the student had written back to her. Santana couldn't exactly point out what it was, but she wanted to get to know that girl. She sighed, she hoped there would be mail for her later that day. She knew it couldn't be possible, she had only written back a few days ago. She would be lucky if Marley had received the letter.

"Lopez! Let's go! The hospital has been blown up!" Mackie stood in the doorway, looking stressed.

Santana jumped to her feet, the ball fell on her bed. She pulled on her gear as quick as she could and was the first to stand at the gate. All she could think of was Gzifa and all the other patients. Soon her platoon was complete and she led the way to the hospital. When they reached the village, people came towards them screaming and waving them back. Santana ignored them as she pushed through to the village and made her way to the hospital. Big columns of smoke rose up in the air. For a moment Santana stood still, gaping at the smoke.

"Lopez, come on!" Shortie slammed her on her back and she started running again.

Finally they arrived at what was once the hospital. It had been clearly a bomb, a large crater in the middle of the hospital. Santana rushed forward, ignoring Mackie's voice in her ear calling her back. She had to go inside, had to see if anyone survived. She passed the first bed, it was empty, but smeared with blood. She shuddered and walked further. Everywhere where laying bodies and she checked them all. She grew more desperate the more dead bodies she encountered. Behind her she heard her team mates, but she ignored them. She made her way further and finally found Gzifa. Gzifa was laying in the corner, rolled up in a ball. Santana rushed forward, throwing her gun to the ground. She knelt down and with shaking fingers she felt for a pulse. There was none. Santana closed her eyes, almost breaking into tears. They should have protected the hospital, the woman had warned them. Her eyes fluttered open as she felt something moving against her knee. There was someone laying underneath Gzifa, a small body. With some effort, Santana pushed Gzifa's body sideways and Namir appeared. He was alive and looked up at her with tearfilled eyes.

"Hey Namir. It's okay, you're safe now," she said and lifted him up.

She was surprised at how light he actually was. She walked back to the rest of her team, Mackie was waiting for her.

"Is he okay?" he asked and guided them outside.

"As far as I could see, yes. He still needs to go to the hospital, he's not recovered from the previous bomb," she said, laying him down on the ground.

Quickly she checked him over for any injuries and then checked his leg. It had started bleeding again, probably because he was moved. Santana was thankful for it, Gzifa had saved his life.

"I'll call for a helicopter. Are there any other survivors?" Mackie asked, looking down at Santana.

Santana shook her head wordlessly and tended to Namir's leg. Mackie walked away, while talking into the radio. She tried to comfort Namir, but he kept being restless and mumbling in Arabic. She noticed stroking his hair calmed him a bit down. She kept doing it, until the helicopter arrived and Namir got lifted into the helicopter. Santana waved them off and followed her platoon back to the compound. Shortie had taken her gun from the hospital, which swung on her back now. Arriving at the compound, Santana stripped down her gear and without saying a word, she pulled back in her tent. She grabbed her note block and started writing. She knew she had sent a letter not even a week ago, but she needed to write it all down. As she wrote, tears streamed down her face and she had to blink several times to clear her vision. She just finished writing the address on the envelope as the bell rung for the leaving mail. She jumped up and dumped the envelope in the mail. As she wanted to walk away, Shortie stood up, blocking the way.

"Are you okay?" he asked sincere. "You haven't said a word," he added concerned.

"It was our job to protect those people and we failed. So, no, I'm not okay," she replied, wanting to walk past him.

"It was not our fault, San. Gzifa didn't know when they would attack," he said, holding her arm.

"We should have protected them. Those were innocent people in there," Santana protested and pulled her arm out of his grip.

"Innocent? They were Afghani," Mason chipped in, crossing his arms.

"Excuse me? Namir is only seven and Gzifa was trying to do a good job, you idiot," she spat and glared at him.

Mason didn't budged, he stepped even closer. "What if Gzifa tipped them off, huh?"

Red appeared before Santana's eyes and she jumped him. Under the sudden weight, Mason lost his balance and fell to the ground. Santana pounded in on him, until two strong arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her of him.

"Calm down," Mackie hissed in her ear.

Santana wriggled herself loose from Mackie's gripped and walked off, still searing with anger. She walked past the tents and sat down on the hill that looked out over the dessert. Slowly she calmed down and regretted she attacked Mason. She sighed and closed her eyes, letting the silence fill her.

The victory had been theirs. Marley had assisted in three more goals and had made two goals herself. Now she was making her way back to the changing room, her team mates were already there. The coach had congratulated her and told her she had earned a tenure on the team as left wing. She only hoped Rose wouldn't be to mad about it, it was her spot after all.

"Miss Rose?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked back. At the beginning of the tunnel stood a tall man in a suit, he stood in the shadows.

"Yes?"

The man walked forward and she saw he was older and already greying. "I saw you play, you're good," he said as he walked closer.

"Uh, thank you," she replied, she had no idea who this man was.

"I'm sorry, I'm coach Reilly. I coach the Calgary Flames and I want to ask you something, if that's okay?" he asked, he was standing next to her now.

"Uh, sure. I'll go change and meet you in the canteen?" she offered.

"Sounds like a plan. See you there," he said and walked off.

A bit flabbergasted, Marley stepped into the changing room. Katie immediately saw something was up.

"You looked like you've seen a ghost, Rose," she said.

"Quite the opposite, actually. In the canteen is the coach of the Calgary Flames waiting for me," Marley replied, still flabbergasted.

"You're kidding! That's amazing," Rose said, her arm hung in a sling.

"I know. It's crazy," Marley replied.

She was glad she had a sportive team, they were all congratulating her. Marley let it come over her, she couldn't believe an NHL coach wanted to talk to her. Until now it only had been for fun. Of course she had dreamed she would be playing for a major league team, but this was far beyond her biggest dream.

Marley walked into the canteen and spotted coach Reilly immediately. He was sitting near the window, looking out over the now dark ice rink. She approached him and sat across from him.

"I got you some hot chocolate," he said, pushing the hot chocolate towards her.

"Thank you. To be honest, I'm quite surprised," Marley started nervously.

"I can imagine. I talked to your coach, he was pretty excited. He told me you're a good player. And from what I saw today, I was impressed," he said, leaning back.

"Thank you. I've seen playing hockey as fun, to be honest," Marley replied.

"It doesn't have to be. Let me be frank, I want you on my team. Recently, a spot opened up and I want you on it," he said, looking Marley serious in the eyes.

"What position?" Marley asked curious.

"You're spot, right wing," he replied.

Marley took a deep breath, this was big, and she could feel it. Still she had a few concerns. "What about college?" she asked.

"How long do you still need to go?" he asked.

"I just started, so another three years," she answered.

"Right. Well, we're training in Calgary, so I think it's best to transfer. If you want to," he added. Marley looked out of the window, it was a lot that came at her. She would have to leave campus, leave the team and started new somewhere. But this was her dream, playing NHL hockey. "Take your time to think about it, I know it's a lot," he smiled and handed her his card. "Call me if you made a decision," he added.

"I will. Thank you."

Coach Reilly stood up and shook her hand. "I'm looking forward to your call. You're a great player," he said.

They said goodbye and Marley was left alone, thinking about this huge opportunity.


End file.
